The Destiny of Seven (Sequel to The Second Chance)
by thesecondgarde
Summary: Five scars now mark their ankles as the Garde continue on their journey to avenge their planet and protect their home. The events of the recent past have changed everything. They are now stronger, more prepared than ever to face the upcoming battles, but little do they know there's much more to the Elder's plan than what they had assumed. CURRENT CHAPTER: 4 (YES ITS AN UPDATE !)
1. Prologue

**Hey guys, thesecondgarde here!**

**Welcome to my sequel: The Destiny of Seven.**

**If you haven't already read The Second Chance, the link is ... s/9976345/1/The-Second-Chance-sequel-to-The-Fall-of-Five... and if you can't see that you can always access it through my profile!**

**I suggest you read it before reading this... or things could get a little confusing... :P**

**So here we go...**

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**PROLOGUE**

They lie in a circle around a large cylindrical, crystalline structure.

Eyes closed, dressed in simple white tunics and cut off pants, which display the four scars around their ankles.

They don't move. They don't speak. They don't show any signs of being alive.

They don't because they can't.

Pipes run from their bodies to machines placed around the room, their heartbeat and vitals monitored carefully as sedatives are pumped into their bloodstreams.

Among the pipes are wires and cables, running from carefully placed electrodes and plates to a large machine.

All is quiet except for the steady beeps of the monitors, and a low hum that resonates through the room.

And then the man in the far corner moves.

His hands fly up and clutch his heart, far too old, far too strained to go on, and the monitors start to go crazy.

His heart rate starts to spike, then drops precariously low, before he flat lines.

And then, all at once there are shouts from the others as their ankles light up, a bright red light starts to fill the room.

They scream instinctively, too weak, too tired to stop themselves as a scar is seared into their flesh.

The monitors register their pain, but no one comes to help.

Not a soul enters their circular prison.

The cylinder glows brightly for a minute, the light blinding to anyone who might look.

But then, apart from them, there is no one to watch.

There are low groans from the pain as it slowly recedes, the sedatives taking over once more.

And then the silence resumes.

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**So... more questions anyone? :P**

**Tell me what you think... and thanks for reading!**

**Until next time**

**thesecondgarde**


	2. Chapter 1 - SIX & ELLA

**15 reviews? 7 favorites and 7 follows? For my prologue? **

**THANK YOU! I'M SO THRILLED!**

**I got all kinds of crazy theories... and so many of you want me to revive Five... what happened to the whole "Die Five! Die!" thing XD :P**

**Also a huge thanks to Sweet Loric, writingmagic, Kim, Tom, Loricwarrior9, The Book Queen, Unordinarymind, scone104 and Meerkat78 for the reviews on the last chapter of The Second Chance! **

**A big thanks to everyone who has read my story over the past few days! I'm so grateful! **

**I hope this chapter is OK... **

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not Pittacus Lore, and so I don't own LL**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**ELLA**

I SIT IN THE CORNER AND WATCH QUIETLY AS THE GARDE AND OUR ALLIES FILE INTO THE ROOM.

After Nine left to find Kiara yesterday, our meeting came to an abrupt end once everyone realized we were in no state or mood to continue discussion on Five's funeral, and so decided to push it to today.

John sits to my right, holding Sarah's hand and by the dark circles under his eyes, I can tell he didn't get much sleep last night.

With the events and revelations of yesterday, I'm not surprised.

Marina teleports in with Eight, who looks rather well rested. I was right when I sensed that their agreement caused them more stress than they revealed, and now it appears that he can finally breathe easy.

Adam and Rex are next to enter, having left the Chimaera to look after our captives, Ethan and Zakos in the next room.

Most of the Garde aren't really comfortable around Rex, and neither am I. But Adam seems to trust him, and from what I could gleam from my brief reading of his mind, he means us no harm.

I wonder what convinced him to change sides. He hasn't gotten around to telling us his story yet, saying it wasn't as important as our arranging for what to do with Five.

Sam and Six walk in, clutching mugs of coffee and sitting down by John and Sarah.

Kiara and Nine are the last to walk in, holding hands. Kiara doesn't look up at us as she enters, but Marina calls to her and invites her over with a smile, which she returns as she pulls Nine over with her.

"Now we're all here", John says and our eyes snap up to meet him, "I think it's about time we get down to finalizing what to do now and when we head out. I suggest we start with Five before we move on", he says and I feel my heart sink.

The Garde don't know Five as I did, loyal and dedicated. In their eyes, or at least in a small part of their minds he will always be viewed as a traitor.

I hope they can have it in their hearts to give him a decent funeral.

I'm about to voice my thoughts when, surprisingly, Marina speaks up.

"I think we should read the letter before we go about doing anything. Maybe there's another charm or something that could ressurect him?", she suggests and Kiara shakes her head.

"Not a chance. If there was a charm in play, it would have worked by now. They can't possibly expect us to be able to perfectly preserve a Garde's body. But yes, we should read what he has to say, we owe it to him to send him off with the same dignity we would anyone else", she says and I feel a rush of thankfulness.

Kiara never met Five, and when I come to think of it she has more reason than most of us to hate him, with Eight being her brother and Nine her boyfriend. Yet she shows none of the indifference I would expect from someone who had so nearly lost so much.

In fact, none of the others show any signs of anger or satisfaction at Five's death, they're upset over the loss of one of our own.

"I have the letter", Sam says and hands it to John, who opens it up and begins to read.

"Dear Ella...", he starts before stopping and handing it to me. I take it without a word, confused over why Five would want to address his letter to me.

I take a deep breath, and start to read out as my eyes dart across the page, working hard to decipher Five's messy, hurried handwriting.

_Dear Ella, _

_ I have addressed this letter to you in the hopes that it will be read, since you seem to have had the forgiveness in your heart to push aside what I had done and looked to me as an ally. _

_An ally, and I hope, a friend.  
_

_I write this letter to explain myself, since I know fully well that if you are reading it, I am not there to make my case in person, so I hope you can spend a few minutes to read what I have to say with an open mind. _

_If you can't, I understand all the same, I have not done much to earn myself your trust and such favors. _

_While I know it will never make up for what has happened, I am sorry for what I have done. I truly am. _

_I would give anything to go back in time and change my decision to join the Mogadorians, but it is much too late to wish for such miracles, even if one has taken place already, in the form of Eight's revival. _

_Eight, I am aware that how much ever I apologize, I cannot regain your trust or respect after what I did in the Everglades I never meant for it to be you, but that doesn't change the fact that I was ready to kill a Garde, someone of my own dying race which I have betrayed. _

_Marina, I am truly sorry. I took away the one person you had left to love in the midst of all this chaos. I hold no grudge for what you did as a retaliation, and I know fully well that I deserve worse. _

_Nine, I feel it is required to apologize to you as well. I allowed your teasing to get to me, and Eight wouldn't have died if I had kept my cool._

_I made a mistake, one that I know no one can hope to forgive, and now I'm going to try to right what I have done. _

_But before I come to that, there is one thing you must know. _

_My guilt wasn't the only reason for my change of heart. _

_I discovered something strange and shocking, and knew at once that it would change the way we look at this war._

_All this while we have believed that the Mogadorians want nothing more than the destruction of worlds, to strip them of their resources.  
_

_But the Mogs had, and have different plans for Lorien. _

_I only heard whispers, but from what I have gathered, I have reached the conclusion that the Mogs, while wanting every living Loric dead, do not wish the same for the planet. _

_Setrakus Ra wants to revive Lorien, to bring it out of hibernation._

_I do not know why and how, but I know it involves the Tenth Elder. That's why he wanted Ella on their side._

_That was when I realized I was being kept in the dark more than I would like. _

_And so I knew I was on the wrong side, and regretted every second I chose to be there. _

_While the contents of this letter could be doubted, and rightly so since I do not have your trust, I hope that you will believe me, for this could be a warning for what is yet to come. _

_And so I write this letter, issuing a warning and seeking forgiveness. I have been selfish, and my reasons for my death remain so. _

_You see, I had a second chance to prove myself, to you and to Lorien, and I tried to the best of my ability. But after what I have done, I knew I could never be truly forgiven and above suspicion, and so I was faced with a choice._

_I could live the rest of my life, remembered as a traitor, or die in the name of Lorien, and hopefully remembered as a fighter. A hero is a word I feel could never apply to me._

_Needless to say, I have made my choice clear. _

_Please do not blame yourselves for what has happened. I am the only one to blame. It was my choice. _

_After all, it's only fair. A life for a life._

_I hope you find it in your hearts to take me back to Lorien with you._

_Five._

**XXoOoXx**

**SIX**

We walk into the woods, Five's body on a plank between us.

Five's letter caught us all by surprise. I never expected him to have changed so completely, and to have the courage to lay down his life for his planet, and for his race.

For us.

The revelation of what the Mogs have planned for Lorien was shocking, and unbelievable. But if Five went to the extent of specifically mentioning it in his letter then it must be worth something.

We lay Five down in a clearing we found earlier, and Ella steps forward to retrieve his pendant and eye patch.

She broke down after she finished reading out his letter, and said she had noticed he was acting strange, yet never really questioned it.

Five saved her, and she never even got to say goodbye.

At least one of us will remember him as he wished to be, as a hero.

We stand in a semicircle a few feet away and pay our last respects. Our eulogies are short, as was our time knowing Five, but not one person brings up his betrayal.

Instead, we thank him for his sacrifice, for his determination, and for saving Ella.

We acknowledge him as one of our own, something Five appeared to have wanted from the beginning, according to Ella.

Acceptance. I'm happy he finally found it, even if it was in death.

We stand back and watch as Five's body is consumed by flames of my creation and we gather the ashes carefully.

We're going to take him with us, it was an unspoken agreement, and I feel my shoulders sagging as we trudge back to the hotel.

Another gone.

Five scars circle my ankle, and I find it harder to place one foot in front of the other.

So I stop, right there in the middle of the woods and motion for the others to go on without me.

I need time to think.

Sam looks at me, concerned before nodding and walking back with the others.

I turn back to the trees and focus on calling up a strong breeze, not so harsh so as to seem unnatural, but strong enough to send my now black hair whipping against my face.

Three of us are dead, gone. It would have been five, if not for the charm protecting Eight and Kiara, since I'm sure Five would have met his hero's end eventually.

He died honourably, even if he didn't live like it for many years.

We didn't speak much about the battle with Ra, and so never really got around to Ella's story and her legacy, or where they found my chest.

My chest.

I haven't opened it yet, but from what I can tell the Garde expect me to, and soon. But no one's vocal about it.

They know the chest reminds me of Katerina, and of my imprisonment.

Back then, we were safe. If we weren't next in line the Mogs couldn't touch us, but it had it's disadvantages.

Our Cepans were used against us, tortured like Katerina was to seek information, though our knowledge was limited.

They died for us, they sacrificed themselves for our planet, our home.

How many more will be required to follow them before we reach our goal?

The breeze is now slowly turning into a storm, and I catch myself before it gets out of hand.

Thankfully our motel is practically in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions.

It's pretty surprising how clueless the humans are to our existence, and the theories they come up with to explain their ignorance are hilarious.

I smile as I remember some of the crazy ones Sam and I discussed back in New York, and turn around and start walking back to the motel.

"Feeling better?", Sam asks from where he waits at the entrance and I nod as he falls into step beside me.

"John's called another meeting, apparently Kiara has something to tell us", he says and I turn to him.

"Please don't tell me it's...", I start but he cuts me off.

"No... it's nothing like that. She says she's figured something out. About reviving Lorien and the Elders", he says and I raise my eyebrows.

Kiara is smart, there's no doubt about it, but how on Earth could she have caught something the rest of us completely missed?

Maybe her intelligence is a legacy in itself.

We walk up to the room Kiara and Marina share, and find the rest of the Garde already seated comfortably.

Everyone looks up as I enter and I find myself feeling slightly self conscious as I sit down.

"So? What was it you had to tell us?", I ask Kiara and her small smile turns to a grimace.

"Well, I have quite a bit. There's good, bad and terrible, what would you like to hear first?", she asks and raises her eyebrows.

"How about we start with the good?", Adam says and she nods, but before she gets a chance to explain, we hear a huge blast from below.

We look at each other and move to stand up when the door to the room is blasted open to reveal three armed Mog soldiers.

Oh crap.

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**Cliffie?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Maybe you could review? :)**

**Until next time**

**thesecondgarde**


	3. Chapter 2- NINE, ADAM & MARINA

**I'm back! **

**14 reviews for my last chapter? I think I might be dreaming. *pinches self* **

**okay apparently I'm not... Thank you all so much!**

**A huge thanks to everyone who has followed/ added this story to their favorites... I'm so thrilled you all like my story! :)**

**So here's chapter 2... And I fear it may be a bit rushed. Anyway... Enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

**NINE**

I'M ON MY FEET BEFORE THE MOGS CAN REACH FOR THEIR BLASTERS. I REACH INTO MY POCKET AND PULL OUT MY PIPE STAFF, FLICKING MY WRIST TO EXPAND IT TO IT'S FULL LENGTH.

I really don't feel comfortable fighting without it, and I remember to thank Kiara again for fixing it.

How does one say thank you to a girl? Apart from saying it directly of course.

Do you get them flowers or something?

Wow, of all things to be thinking of in the middle of a battle.

I push the thoughts aside as I quickly reduce the soldiers to piles of ash and turn around.

Most of the Garde with exception of Ella, are on their feet and ready for battle, while everyone else just looks shocked.

I hear a metallic click and see Kiara pull out her sword staff and motion for us to go outside.

I nod and she gives Johnny boy a quick glance before turning back to me, her look enough to communicate what is necessary.

We're gonna check if there are any more of them out there, while John and the rest of the Garde will prepare to leave.

Even if they sent only three soldiers, which seems highly unlikely, we can't stay here much longer. We're still too close to Ashwood for my liking.

We step outside to find the motel completely surrounded by Mogs, and duck back into the room to avoid a round of blaster fire.

How the hell did they know we were here?

"We're surrounded", Kiara informs the others and I nod.

"You guys had better get your asses up and moving before we're sitting ducks. They're closing in", I add and Johnny turns to Eight.

"Teleport to the other rooms with Six and grab our stuff, get them to the clearing before you come back for the others, if we're not already out by then", he tells him and Eight reaches for Six's hand as they turn invisible and teleport away.

"What about Ethan and Zakos?", Mog boy asks and John closes his eyes for a second.

"BK and the Chimaera will get them out", he says and I take my chance to speak.

"There's a rear exit through the stairwell on the left of this floor. Johnny, you and Marina take the others and get out of here", I say and he frowns.

"And what will you be doing then?", he asks and I smirk, knowing fully well what I'm about to say is going to piss him off, but Kiara answers first.

"We'll distract them, lead them to the front while you get out and then I'll teleport us back", she says and I sigh.

"Saying we were going to bash some Mogs heads in and whoop their asses to next saturday would have sounded way better", I tell her and she sighs, shaking her head at me but I can see a small smile forming on her lips.

"Oh come on", she says and together, we run out into the chaos.

**XXoOoXx**

**ADAM**

Once Nine and Kiara run out, I turn to John.

"So we head for the stairwell then?", I ask and he nods.

"Stay low, and keep your eyes out for Mogs. Marina, if you could lay down some cover please?", he asks and she nods, focussing her legacy to create a wall of ice that slowly creeps along the banisters to block the Mogs fire.

"It won't hold long!", she warns through gritted teeth and that gets us moving as the ice begins to crack under the heavy blaster fire.

We throw ourselves out into the corridor and start to run towards our exit when suddenly our path is blocked by a whole squadron of soldiers.

"Look out!", John shouts before they begin firing, and we all duck to avoid the blasts as a metallic shield forms around John and blocks most of the fire.

There's no end to the storm of fire blaring around us, and the Garde are too busy deflecting shots with their telekinesis to fight off the soldiers.

That leaves us

"Cool shield", I shout, getting to my feet as John gives me a strained grin before motioning for me to sit down.

I ignore him as I focus on the ground beneath the soldiers, and then all at once, I hear a faint rumbling and they're thrown off their feet and to the ground.

One's legacy never fails to amaze me.

John's shield retracts immediately to a bracelet around his wrist. Well that's handy.

The Garde quickly grab the fallen Mog blasters and reduce the Mogs to ash before they can get back up to their feet.

"Thanks", John says as he hands me two blasters and I nod before turning around to hand one to Rex.

He takes it gratefully and expertly tests it before nodding and we move forward.

Rex's appearance came as a surprise to all of us. He hasn't said much since we've left DC, saying only enough to promise to explain everything at the first available opportunity.

But still, I feel something's off.

He had said we'd never meet as allies again, but apparently things have changed.

Or have they?

By now we've managed to make our way out of the back exit and are nearing the clearing where we had Five's funeral.

I see Six and Eight standing guard over our stuff, Six's chest and our captives, the chimaera at their heels and when they nod, confirming there are no Mogs around, I turn to Rex.

"Did you call them?", I ask him and his eyes widen as he shakes his head.

"Of course not! Adam have some faith-", he starts to say but I cut him off, using his momentary confusion to disarm him.

"Don't lie! You said we'd never speak as allies again Rex. What's changed?", I ask and Rex flinches, about to answer when he's suddenly lifted into the air.

I turn around to see Nine and Kiara, both covered in ash, and am about to tell them my suspicions when I find myself lifted off the ground to float next to Rex.

"Which one of you did it? I knew we couldn't trust you! Mogadorian allies my ass!", Nine snarls as the hold around us tightens and I realise he's reached the same conclusion I have.

I'm about to tell him to put me down, and that it wasn't me when I'm thrown back against a nearby tree.

"Nine!", I hear someone protest, probably Kiara as black spots dance across my vision.

"I ASKED YOU WHICH ONE OF YOU F****** DID THIS?", Nine shouts again and suddenly the hold around me falters.

I can vaguely make out Kiara shoving Nine roughly before grabbing his shoulder.

"NINE! LANGUAGE!", she shouts before turning briefly to the two of us, and seeing that we're OK, turns back to Nine.

"It's not them! It's him!", she shouts at Nine and he turns to her, confusion etched all over his face as she marches past him to where Ethan and Zakos are tied up.

She rips off the tape covering Ethan's mouth and glares at him murderously.

"Where's the tracker?", she demands and Ethan gulps, scared but refusing to answer, but Kiara isn't the least bit fazed.

She turns to Ella, who stands behind Nine and raises her eyebrows.

"His right shoe", she says and Kiara rips it off his feet with her telekinesis and literally rips it apart to reveal a small electronic tracker hidden in the heel.

She shoves the shoe against Nine's chest and he stands there, looking stunned.

"How did you know?", Eight asks and Kiara motions to Ella.

"We have a telepath, and I trust Adam", she says and turns to me as the rest of the Garde slowly process what she's saying.

"You OK?", she asks and I nod, getting to my feet and turning to Rex, who looks uneasy.

"Sorry man", I tell him and he nods as he brushes himself off.

"It's OK. I haven't explained myself, and it's natural for you all to be distrustful", he says and I nod as I turn back to the Garde.

I see Eight, Six and Marina glaring venomously at Ethan while Nine walks toward him, his eyes alight with anger.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now you son of a b****", he growls and Sam steps forward, blaster raised.

"You have ten seconds Ethan", he says and Nine nods approvingly at Sam before turning back as John steps forward, and Ethan starts to speak.

"I have information", he says simply and Kiara smirks.

"Weren't you listening?", she says and gestures to Ella again, "We have a telepath".

At this, Ella closes her eyes and Ethan suddenly looks afraid.

She opens them a second later and looks stunned for a minute before saying softly, "He's talking about something in Five's chest, or rather bag".

Kiara nods at Ella before reaching for Five's duffel bag and opening it.

"A folder", Ella says and Kiara pulls out a thin, cream colored one and holds it up.

"What's so great about this?", she asks and Sam cocks his gun and adjusts his finger on the trigger.

"It was Number Five's assignment", Ella says and suddenly comprehension dawns on her face.

"Oh... oh no", she says and Kiara turns to her.

"What is it?", she asks as Ethan smirks and Ella's face falls.

"It was his test, to prove his loyalty to the Mogadorians. He said he failed, he said he couldn't do it... but he never told me what it was", she says and Ethan smiles.

"We believe that such deals are usually made over blood", Ethan says and I feel a rush of alarm.

He had to kill someone to prove himself. And by the looks of things, it was one of the Garde.

Kiara hesitates before slowly opening the folder to reveal a single picture.

It's outdated, probably taken a few years ago and obviously without the subject knowing, but anyone can easily tell who it is.

Brown hair. Thoughtful Eyes. A small, kind smile.

It's Marina.

I expect someone to say something, to cry out, but nothing happens.

No one has time to react as we hear a loud roar in the distance, and we know we have to get out of here.

**XXoOoXx**

**MARINA**

I can't move as the others grab their bags and start to run into the woods. I'm stunned, and a little scared.

Five was supposed to kill me.

He was supposed to, but he didn't. He couldn't.

The Mogadorians want me dead. Specifically me.

Why me?

I'm staring off into space when I feel someone grab my hand and the world falls away below me.

Once the spinning stops I look around to find myself in the middle of the woods, staring into Eight's emerald eyes.

"Marina!", he calls desperately as he shakes me back to reality and I grip his arm to steady myself.

He looks like he's about to say something more when we hear a second roar and we turn to find the other Garde running deeper into the woods.

Eight grabs my hand and we run after them, not stopping until we reach the parking lot where we left our van yesterday.

Nine shouts something as he, Six, Adam hot wire nearby cars and jump in, revving the engines.

"Get in!", Six shouts and Eight drags me into the car, shutting the door behind me as Ella climbs in from the other side.

Six pulls away as soon as we're all seated and Nine and Adam follow, driving at full speed down the highway.

I swallow down my questions and my unease as Eight wraps an arm around me.

"Hey, it doesn't mean anything", he tells me and I nod.

The Mogs want us all dead. It's not like this should come as much of a shock. But still...

"Yeah I know", I tell him, pushing it to the back of my mind.

It's probably nothing. I'm not going to worry myself to death, and what's more, if it is a threat, I can protect myself now.

My legacy, I finally have some way to show my strength.

I smile up at Eight and he relaxes as he kisses me lightly on the forehead, smiling back before turning back to the road.

"Where are we headed?", he asks Six and she looks into the rearview mirror before answering.

"I don't know. Ella, can you get in touch with the others?", She asks and Ella nods from her seat by the window.

I smile as she closes her eyes and scrunches up her nose in concentration, and imagine her conversation with the others.

I'm so glad she's OK. I was so worried that the Mogs had hurt her, and that they'd brainwashed her I could barely hold back my emotions when she ran to us on the battlefield.

But she's grown a lot in the few weeks she was away. She's more mature, I can see it in her eyes and in the way she speaks, and it fills me with both pride and sadness... a strange combination.

"Nine says to keep driving, he says he wants to get at least a few hours away before we stop. And John agrees... they said no stops for anything but gas", she recites and Six checks her controls.

"We won't need to stop", she says and floors the accelerator.

I'm reminded of my crazy cab ride back in India as Six recklessly swerves between lanes and think to myself that it's about time that someone more sensible learns to drive.

Between Six and Nine, it's a wonder we haven't died in a car crash already.

"Six slow down!", I call and she grimaces as she replies.

"Sorry Mar, but the faster we go the faster we reach our next stop", she says and I sigh, leaning into Eight and closing my eyes.

We stop after five hours of driving and pull over in an empty parking lot, somewhere in West Virginia.

Everyone gets out, unsteady on their feet and after dragging Zakos and Ethan out of the car, we set off towards a nearby hotel.

It's small, shady looking, but it suits our need to remain inconspicuous so we rent rooms and head up.

After throwing our bags into our respective room we head to John's, everyone reaching an unspoken agreement that we need to talk.

About me, I'm sure.

I walk in feeling extremely self conscious and Eight slings an arm around my waist and pulls me to him.

"Relax, everything's going to be OK", he tells me and I nod, my unease returning as everyone turns to John.

He opens his mouth to speak, glancing briefly at me and I suddenly decide I'm not up to discussing this.

"So Five was supposed to kill me. The Mogs want me dead, which isn't any different from what they want for all of us, if I'm not wrong. I don't see why we need to discuss it. It's over, Five's gone, and we're together again", I say and John stops short.

Everyone's eyes flash to me and I register their expressions of surprise at my statement, before Nine speaks.

"Well someone's got it right!", he says looking amused and claps me on the back so hard it knocks the wind out of me.

"Nine!", Eight warns and I hold up a hand to say I'm fine as Nine looks a little sheepish as he smirks.

And then we're all laughing, as if we weren't just discussing a potential death threat, as if we're just a group of regular teenagers.

And it's wonderful.

"So... what now?". Sarah asks and John turns to Kiara expectantly.

"Well you were about to tell us something before we were interrupted...", he says and her grin fades away as she nods.

"Do you guys know about the Phoenix stones?", she asks and most of us nod, with an exception of Rex, Adam and Ella.

Kiara smiles grimly as she explains how the elders used the legendary Phoenix stones to revive Lorien, and how since we're supposed to do the same, we should have them too.

"I initially thought it would be something from our chests", she says looking serious, "but our chest contents disintegrate when we die, so why would they put it there?", she asks and I nod.

I can't believe we never thought about that.

"But what about the antler, and the soil?", Eight asks and she smiles.

"I think those are more like souvenirs, something to help us remember what we're fighting for", she answers. "No, those aren't the Phoenix stones... but I think I might know where and what the real ones are".

We look at her expectantly, and when she doesn't reply immediately, Nine prompts her.

"Aaaand...?", he asks and she turns to him, a small smile playing on her lips.

And in response, she reaches to her neck and taking hold of a black cord that encircles it pulls an object into view.

Her Loric Pendant.

* * *

**Another cliffie? **

**Tom, I hope you're happy I've finally explained a part of my theory... ;P**

**I know you all probably have a lot of questions... please don't hesitate to ask and I promise they will all be answered... in due time :P**

** So... Review please... And check out my one shot story... Reflections... :) **

**So until next time...**

**thesecondgarde**


	4. Chapter 3- JOHN & EIGHT

**I'm back... yes I'm alive.**

**Gone are the days of frequent updates... sorry people!**

**But... THANK YOU SO MUCH! 47 reviews is crazy, I'm hallucinating. I'm sure. **

**Also, I crossed 10 favorites and follows on this story. Which is also insane.**

**And more crazy than all that, is the fact that the view count on The Second Chance just crossed 10,000 ! *fangirl squeal***

**Yup. Pretty sure this is a dream or some crazy hallucination. **

**I'm going mad. **

**So before I go completely cuckoo... here's chapter 3!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own LL, though I wish I did. Then this would be a real book and not fanfiction... *sighs***

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

**JOHN**

A small smile starts to form on Kiara's face as she takes in our expressions of shock.

She's clearly enjoying this, but she has the right to enjoy the suspense.

I can't believe it never struck us before, now when we come to think of it, it was so obvious.

"Our...pendants?", Marina asks to confirm and Kiara nods.

"Our Pendants. The Phoenix stones, and no one told us", Eight muses and Kiara nods again, and starts to speak.

"It actually makes sense, because if we had known, we might have unknowingly alerted the Mogs to their importance. Not that it matters in the light of our current situation...", she trails off.

"What do you mean by it doesn't matter?", I ask and she turns to me, her jaw set.

"That's the bad news. You see, I've been working on finding out what and where the Phoenix stones were from quite awhile now, but I never really got anywhere until recently", she says and hesitates for a second.

"What changed?", Nine asks and she looks a bit worried as she answers.

"Setrakus Ra. He wanted to revive Lorien, remember? And so it got me thinking, and I realized he'd need the Phoenix stones for it right? And then there was the panic on his face when I cut these off his neck during the battle", she replies as she floats over her bag -which she had brought with her instead of dropping off- and pulls out three Loric necklaces.

"Wait, how the living hell did you get those?", Nine asks and she frowns at his choice of words before looking a little sheepish.

"Well after Five died, and I thought it was you, I might have charged at Ra...", she trails off and Nine looks ready to explode.

"You CHARGED at Ra? What the hell is wrong with you woman? And you were the one saying I was taking unnecessary risks", he blurts out and she sighs as she turns back to us.

"So anyway, I managed to get these off his neck and when they fell off, he looked panicked... like really scared and when I put it together with the thought that Ra isn't really the type to fancy jewelry or sentimental enough to keep souvenirs, it meant that the pendants were more important than we had realized", she says and we stare at the three pendants.

Then something hits me.

"Wait, why are there three... and how do you still have your pendant?", I ask and she smiles brightly.

"Good question John... you see, I assumed that the only object, besides my clothes of course, which I could duplicate was my sword staff... but until I saw my pendant around Ra's neck I never realized that it duplicated too... I guess it's so much a part of me that it happens naturally", she replies and takes her pendant as she hands us the others.

We pass them around, and they glow brightly when they come in contact with the Loric.

"They're just like the other stuff in your chests... they don't respond to humans", Sam says and Adam adds, "Or Mogadorians", as he takes One's pendant from him.

He stares at it, his eyes a bit glazed over before holding it out for us to take back.

"Keep it", I tell him and he looks up at me before smiling gratefully.

Now he has something to remember One by.

"So, we have all the Phoenix stones... What are we waiting for?", Nine asks pulling out his pendant as we follow his lead, "Let's go revive Lorien!".

"Slow down Nine!", Kiara says, shaking her head, "You really need to stop and think sometimes".

"Why do I need to do that when I have you to do it for me?", he asks her with a smirk and while Kiara sighs and rolls her eyes, I can see she's trying really hard not to smile, and failing as she blushes slightly.

"Anyway... we can't yet, because first of all, we need to be on Lorien to do that, and for that we'd need our ships, and a pilot, and more importantly-", she starts to say before her eyes widen.

"Six, why do you have two pendants?", she asks and I look at Six to see her pulling a second pendant off her neck.

And then I remember.

It's not hers, it's from the skeleton we found in Malcolm's backyard hideout. The skeleton which was supposedly Pittacus.

"We found it, and it's supposed to belong to Pittacus Lore. So I guess that makes it a Phoenix stone too", she says, handing it over.

Kiara's brow furrows as she studies the pendant as it glows in her palm, and shakes her head before looking up at us.

"It's loralite, but it's not a Phoenix stone", she says and I raise my eyebrows at her as she digs in her bag again before pulling out a shard of loralite.

"I picked this up back in Dulce.. you see, unlike Ra I have a thing for souvenirs. Especially Loric ones", she says and sets the shard and pendant down in the center along with both of hers.

"Now watch carefully, I figured this out a few weeks ago... it's what first made me suspect that there was more to our pendants than we assumed", she says before reaching out and picking up the shard.

Then, she picks up her pendant -the real one- and holds it up.

"See?", she says and I notice the pendant glowing much brighter than the shard.

"The pendant's brighter", Ella notes and Kiara nods before putting down the shard and picking up Pittacus' pendant.

It isn't as bright as her's either.

"Wait, how is that possible? That's Lore's pendant!", I say and she shakes her head.

"I don't know, but it's not magical or anything, that's for sure", she says and puts down Lore's pendant before pulling her own back on.

"So it's not a Phoenix stone... and that's confusing. Oh and while we're on the topic of confusing...", she says and trails off, reaching into her bag for a third time and pulling out a leather bound book.

"A book?", Nine asks with a look of horror on his face, "You brought that thing along?".

"Yes I did", she replies, glaring defiantly back at him and Adam laughs.

"Nine, this is nothing, I've seen worse. Back when I first met her in London and tried to get her to pack her stuff to escape all she had put in were books. And not even Loric ones...Novels", Adam says shaking his head and Kiara pouts.

"I just wanted a few... and I already had most of the essentials... except for the books, of course, which Maggie was supposed to bring!", she protests as Nine and Adam raise their eyebrows at her.

"Guys, we're off topic again", Six chides and Kiara nods before opening up the book to reveal page after page covered with swirling symbols.

"You know, Sandor's computers have Loric translators", Nine tells her and she smiles.

"They won't be of use... I already tried. This is written in a decorative script, so the computer can't recognize it and plus, it's hand written, so there's not much consistency with the flow and what not", she says and finally stops flipping through.

"You see... This book keeps talking about some prophecy which says that Lorien was to be invaded, like here it says something about how the Elders knew the planet was going to be attacked because it was "foretold". But I can't find the actual text of the prophecy anywhere in our library or on the computer", she says and looks at us expectantly.

"How do you know you looked everywhere? I mean, you couldn't have possibly had the time to check all the books", Marina says and Kiara shakes her head.

"I wasn't working alone, I had at least four of my clones reading at the same time. So I'm sure I checked it all... do you guys have any idea about this?", she asks.

I think about it for a minute before shaking my head. I've never come across anything that involved prophecies, unless you count Eights supposed "Precognition" legacy.

"Nope", I reply and Eight shakes his head, "Neither have I".

"Eight! That's not true! We have!", Ella exclaims before turning to Kiara.

"Back in India, we found a Loric cave with carvings and strange symbols which looked like they were telling the story of our battles. Do you think that could be it?", she asks and Kiara's eyes light up.

"Carvings? Symbols? Ella I think that might be exactly what we're looking for! When can we go there?", Kiara asks looking excited and Eight smiles.

"Actually, one of the Loralite stones is in that cave, getting there's a simple matter of teleportation", he replies and she grins.

"Sorry to kill the excitement guys, but remember the closest loralite stone to us is currently in pieces", I say, indicating Kiara's shard of Loralite and her shoulders slump at once.

"I forgot that", she says and I nod before continuing.

"Also, I don't think we should split up just yet. We only just got together and we have other matters to deal with, starting with figuring out where to go next, and also clearing up a few things", I say and turn to Rex, who nods.

"Well it's about time I got around to explaining. Has Adam told you how we met?", he asks and I shake my head.

Wow. Adam must have had quite a few adventures of his own before he teamed up with us.

He proceeds to briefly outline the events that occurred from the time Adam was left in Dulce after Sam's rescue to when they freed the Chimaera from a base on Plum Island.

"But I thought that would be the last time I'd ever come face to face with the other side, or you guys again. I was wrong. You see, despite the fact that I was back with my people, had settled back into my routine and even got promoted to General, there was this nagging feeling that all I was doing was wrong", Rex explains and Nine scoffs.

"So you want us to believe that you had a change of heart? A Mog growing a conscience? Please", he says and Kiara elbows him hard.

"What Nine's so untactfully trying to say is that it's a little hard to believe that a few days with Adam was all it took to make you switch sides", she says and Rex shakes his head.

"You're right, that wasn't the only thing. You see, that nagging doubt made me start questioning my orders, and so I ended up doing some digging", he says and everyone sits up, looking interested.

"And what I found was enough to change everything. I had hacked myself into one of the more secured servers in Ashwood when I found a strange file, with no name but just a serial number, and when I finally managed to open it I was so shocked I knew I couldn't continue with the Mogadorians. The file was for plans to eliminate the full remainder of true-borns", he says and Adam's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets.

"Eliminate... true-borns?", he asks and Rex nods.

"I didn't think it was really a plan until I saw the encryption on the file. It was top level clearance only", he says and Adam slumps back, looking confused and worried at the same time.

"But why? Why would Ra want that?", he asks and Rex shakes his head saying he doesn't know.

"But it was enough to make me change my mind. While I'm supposed to owe my allegiance to the leader, I fight for my people, and if he's planning to kill them I see no reason to fight by his side", he says and Kiara buts in.

"He's destroying another race. Like he did to the Loric, or rather tried to do", she says and he nods back.

"Except this time it's his own, making things even more complicated", Six says and we fall silent.

Ra wants to kill the Mogs, his own people.

What the hell is going on?

**xXoOoXx**

**EIGHT**

"So what now?", Kiara asks and John shrugs.

"Well I guess this gives us one more reason to keep fighting", he says and Adam and Rex smile gratefully.

Crazily enough, as much as I hate the Mogs, John's right.

We can't let Ra destroy another planet, another species.

Our war now decides the fate of three worlds, so no pressure.

"Nine? Are you convinced now?", Rex asks and I see him give a brief grudging nod.

"But that doesn't change the fact that someone has to pay for what happened", he says getting up and looks like he's about to storm into the next room, where Ethan and Zakos are being watched by the Chimaera.

"Nine, you're not the only one who wants to sort things out", I say, getting to my feet as I remember the fear in Marina's eyes, but before we can do anything John stands up and blocks our path to the door.

I expect him to stop us, to tell us to calm down, and so his response catches me off guard.

"I'm coming with you, and Sam probably will too", he says and Sam nods, getting too his feet as Adam stands up and walks to the door, holding it open.

"I'll be back", I tell Marina and her eyes beg me to not be to harsh.

It's incredible how merciful she can be.

But I'm not like her.

We've had enough of problems with people who sell us out and not to mention, traitors.

And unfortunately for Ethan, he falls into both categories.

We all storm out and head to the next room, flinging the door open to find Ethan and Zakos just where we left them.

We form a circle around Ethan and I see him gulp at the sight of our expressions, especially Nine's, which is rather intimidating.

John rips off the tape covering his mouth and Ethan yelps before catching himself and staring back at us, looking unsure of what to do next.

"Talk", Sam says, his voice low and his expression murderous.

This is the man who betrayed and killed his father.

He's well within his rights to be mad.

"I swear, I completely forgot about the tracker and I never meant for anyone to get hurt and-", he starts but John holds up his hand.

"We don't want excuses, and we sure as hell don't want to hear your lies", he says and Nine glares menacingly at Ethan before speaking.

"Now that that's been cleared up, tell us something that will convince us not to kill you right now, slowly, and painfully", he says in a low voice and I can practically see the goosebumps form on Ethan's skin.

"Like what?", Ethan breathes and Nine loses it.

"Like what? Are you saying you want to die? Because I assure you, I'm not the guy who usually takes others needs into consideration, but this time I'll make an exception", he says and Ethan looks desperately at Sam.

"Samuel, I'm sorry for what happened to your father. I never intended to hurt him-", Ethan starts to say before John buts in.

"Of course you didn't. You were aiming for Sam", he says and Ethan's mouth falls open.

"We're done here", John says and Ethan starts to plead for his life as Nine lifts him up with his telekinesis.

"Stop!", a voice says out of the blue and I turn to see Sam holding his hand up with a shocked look on his face, as if he can't believe what he's saying.

"This isn't what Dad... Malcolm would have wanted", he says and Nine drops Ethan unceremoniously back to the ground.

I look at the others, who are mirroring my expressions of confusion.

"You know", a voice says from the doorway and we whip around to see Six and the others, "Killing someone isn't the only way to keep them from getting in the way".

"So what do we do instead, if you think you know everything?", Nine challenges and she smirks.

"Just because we weren't in the room doesn't mean we weren't conducting an interrogation ourselves", Marina says and Ella steps forward.

"I checked out his memories while you were busy scaring the shit out of him", Ella says and Marina frowns at her word choice.

"Ella..", she warns but she brushes her off as she continues speaking.

"He really doesn't know much, apart from Five's folder and how he was recruited and stuff. It seems like the Mogs don't really like sharing information with their human allies", she says and Adam nods.

"That's true", he says and Ella continues on.

"Technically he has nothing much to offer us, but a lot to tell the Mogs if he gets back to them", she adds, "So we're gonna have to take care of that".

"So let's kill him", Nine says, sadistic as usual and Kiara frowns at him before nodding at Ella to continue.

"We're just going to get rid of anything in his head that could prove dangerous", she says and suddenly I get what she's saying.

"You mean, change his memories?", I ask and Ella nods proudly.

" I know how to do it, and I've done it before on the doctor over there, to make him convince Ra I had joined the Mogs", she says indicating Zakos who suddenly looks confused.

"Niice", Nine says smirking at Zakos and Ella grins at the praise.

"I can't change everything, maybe just his knowledge of the Mogadorians, Loric and this war, but I can't guarantee the memories won't come back. So we're gonna have to dump him somewhere away from all this, maybe give him a new identity", she says and John looks at her questioningly.

"So you're saying that we wait some more?", he asks her and she shakes her head.

"Away doesn't mean on the other side of the world... it just means somewhere the Mogs aren't likely to look for him, though I doubt they are looking now", she says and I nod.

"So technically we can dump him anywhere", I say and Six nods.

"Though preferably "anywhere" is a small town where we're sure he can fit in comfortably enough to not go seeking his past", she says and Kiara adds in, "Also, it would help if we could keep an eye on him somehow, just in case".

"So any suggestions?", Marina asks and Sam suddenly smiles.

"It's crazy, and I know my logic seems weird but what happens if we drop him off at the one place the Mogs would never expect us to go, because it's risky?", he asks and we look at him, willing him to explain more.

"I mean, it would technically be somewhere we know, and so we could potentially keep an eye on him, and it's a small town. Also, we might find something about the prophecy there, Kiara", he says, reasoning it out to himself.

"Sammy spit it out already!", Nine complains and John's eyes widen in sudden comprehension.

"It's risky, Sam. But it's not like we have much to loose after Ella's taken away his memories", he says and Sam nods.

"Will you guys just tell us what's going on?", I shout, frustrated and John turns to me before answering.

"What Sam's saying, is that it might be a good time to visit Paradise".

* * *

**Aah... there was supposed to be more in this chapter :( Oh well. **

**For those of you who asked me what they were going to do about the pendants being with Ra, well I guess you should start reading more closely :P JK**

**For those of you who still are like... what? The pendant thing is in chapter 30 of The Second Chance.**

**I love plot twists. And cliffies! (Anyone still surprised?)**

**So thanks so much for reading!**

**Until next time!**

**thesecondgarde**


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm back!**

**Yes it's been WAY too long since my last update. I'm so sorry! **

**For those of you who want to know where I've been, well college started, and the workload has been so ridiculous that I have barely been able to breathe. And then I fell sick. Twice. And then there's my unhealthy obsession with "Let it Go", by Idina Menzel (It's a long story). **

**So thank you all my lovely reviewers! I love u guys! **

**And here is the long overdue chapter 4...**

**I'm expecting a lot of questions, maybe a bit of outrage since this chapter is terrible, and a lot of theorizing... :)**

**SPOILERS FOR RETURN TO PARADISE**

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**CHAPTER 4**

**MARK**

It's been nearly a month and a half since I left Paradise, and only now do I realise it might have been a huge mistake.

Crappy Motels, substandard food and the sense of impending doom that's been following me only seem to reinforce the feeling that I've messed up.

Like, big time.

I've been living on the run since I left, with a false identity and basically keeping myself off the radar. It's kind of like being in a spy movie.

Except for the whole paranoia over an evil alien species potentially hunting me, they don't include that stuff in flims.

Maybe it doesn't sell tickets.

I tighten my hold on the straps of my backpack as I walk past two flight attendants at the boarding gates, keeping an eye out for the Police or FBI.

Or the Mogs, can't forget them.

After I arrived in New Mexico it didn't take me long to realise that my whole hero act wasn't going to work on a top secret, heavily guarded, government base, filled with both human and Mog soldiers alike, from what I could make out from the regular perimeter patrols.

Not to mention the fact that my attempt to stow away on a government truck left me with a broken elbow.

Which in turn, basically left me with no other option but to sit around uselessly and wait for some miracle that would get Sarah out of there.

Preferably alive.

I considered trying to fight my way in, which would obviously earn me my own cell, hopefully close to Sarah, but a few messages from GUARD was all it took to kill that idea.

GUARD, I haven't heard from him since his last message a days ago telling me to get my ass to Chicago, where the two of us are supposed to meet a "Ryan Gill", another blog user who says he has something important to tell us.

Ideally, we would ask him to just post it on the blog, but in the light of recent events, we're pretty sure it's been compromised.

A week into my stay in NM, I got into a bit of a mess with a tattooed gang while trying to follow up on a lead GUARD was supposed to be working on.

That is, until his van was destroyed and he started acting strange, leading us to believe he had been compromised too, and FLYBOY's posts on the subject only confused me more.

And then, about two weeks after I reached Dulce, the base was attacked and while I couldn't get anywhere close to the action, the reports, asudden earthquake and chaos the next morining was enough to convince me that the Garde had been there.

It appears that John and Invisible Girl, a.k.a. Six found the others after all.

And then there was the number I found through a post on funky crop circles which told me that Sarah was OK and that the humans had to "stick together".

Basically, the past few weeks have been full of all kinds of wierd alien shit, and I'm practically up to my neck in the stuff without a way to somehow be of use.

That is, until GUARD, who I believe to be the real one after he told me he had just managed to escape Dulce, contacted me and told me to catch a flight to the windy city, which I'm now doing.

His text came a day after the news channels reported an attack which blew apart the top floors of the John Hancock center, and linked it to the infamous "terrorist", "John -Bomber- Smith".

Obviously, we had to go check it out, just in case the Garde were really in Chicago.

I find my seat and collapse into it while checking for anyone suspicious on the plane, like GUARD told me to, but I know there's nothing to worry about.

With his tech genius he had managed to create a perfect, foolproof fake identity for me, all the way down to a gym memberships and library cards.

The guy has WAY too much time -and money, from what I can tell- on his hands, but I'm not complaining.

I run my fingers through my now shorter, darker hair -which I dyed per GUARD's instructions- and wait anxiously for the plane to take off, which is when I can relax. The FBI (read as Mogs) put Sarah on the no fly list, and I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow managed to add me too.

It's crazy how fast things can change the second you find out you're in the middle of an intergalactic war for the fate of your planet, where your country's own government has tied up with the enemy.

If John hadn't literally fallen from the sky, I'd be back in Paradise right now, in my old school, being the old me, and might have even still been together with Sarah.

If only.

But there's nothing much I can do about it now, except accept the fact that my life has changed to be more dangerous and demanding, and that my ex-girfriend, and possibly love-of-my-life is probably making out with an alien fugitive right now.

Great. Really encouraging.

I feel my stomach give a slight flip as we finally take off, and watch the buildings shrink as we climb higher and higher.

Reaching for my bag, I pull out my laptop, bulky and ancient compared to Agent Purdy's sleek one -which I'm still carrying with me in the hopes that GUARD can somehow retrive the data I accidentely erased- and open up my file on the attack on Paradise.

Since recently I've turned it into a sort of journal, keeping track of all important information that I've managed to gather since we unofficially "shut down" They Walk Among us, and read through the whole document, looking for anything, a connection or a lead I might have missed.

Finding none, I put away my laptop and and recline my seat a bit. Now that I'm sure I'm relatively safe, I think it's about time I got some sleep.

A Mog sneaking up and killing me as I doze is the least of my worries as I drift away, because if not for an hour or two of rest, I'm going to drop dead from exhaution anyway.

**xXoOoXx**

**X**

I stand outside the John Hancock Center and while the Police barricades prevent me from getting anywhere within a hundred feet of the building in any direction, the extent of the damage is pretty clear.

I was last here nearly a month ago, and while the repair work has begun, anyone can see the signs of destruction and battle left behind from then.

They say it was a leaking gas line that fueled the blast, and thus cased the subsequent damage, but a little look into the building's specifications was all I needed to disprove that theory.

The "blasts" were concentrated on the higher floors, which from what I could make out from the blueprints were connected to the same gas line as the other floors, which means that the whole building should have been damaged.

It's clear that whatever happened here is a coverup of major proportions.

The Penthouse was owned by a man who called himself Damien Worthington, which is about half the information I've been able to dig up on the incident.

Which by my standards, is insane.

I'm pretty good with computers, if I may say so myself, and there's practically nothing online that I can't access.

Which is why the details, or rather lack of them, about this Worthington guy sends up red flags.

From what I could find, I know he was a day trader who got real lucky, and lived with his nephew, Stanley, who never attended school, or rather, from the lack of significant data, never existed.

The whole Worthington thing was someone trying to hide, and the destruction coupled with my lack of information lead me to one conclusion.

This was one of their more permanent hideouts.

Probably a safehouse of some sort, located where they could hide in plain sight.

The Garde were here.

That last bit I know for sure anyway, since I saw all of the remaining dots on my tablet converge in Chicago a few weeks ago.

I look down at the white sleek device in question and check to make sure the dots are still where I saw them last, and sure enough, I see a cluster of them near DC, and now moving North.

The Garde, the last of their kind, and by extension, my kind.

I look human enough, it's not like I'm unnatural like the Mogs or anything -by which I mean the soldiers, the true borns, from what I know could blend in quite easily- with brown hair, blue eyes and a hint of a tan, I'm like most other humans of my age.

Except when it comes to the fact that I'm not actually human.

I came to Earth before the others, and unlike them, I was far too young to remember what happened, as much as I want to. Eli tells me that I was brought here much earlier because I was in grave danger, and for that reason, have had to live on the run for practically my whole life.

Not like the Garde have it any easier. At least I have the advantage of the fact that the Mogs technically have no idea I exist, and so can live in relative peace.

I've spent all my thirteen or so years learning everything from hacking, to martial arts to cooking, basically anything Eli believed would help me survive in the event that he died and I would be left to fend for myself.

Eli's my mentor, my best friend and only family. He came to Earth a year after I did, on the same ship that brought the Nine to Earth, though none of them knew he was there for a mission greater than just flying them to safety.

He was sent to watch over me.

I was only about a year old when I was brought here, and my arrival is a huge mystery to us both. We've looked into it and there are no records of a Loric ship ever leaving for Earth before the day of the invasion, and so whoever brought me here must have gone to great lengths to keep it a secret.

But my relative safety comes with its own problems and pains.

As I left Lorien early, I wasn't included in the charm that binds they Nine together, or protects them, and so I don't get scars when one of them dies.

At least, I don't get physical ones.

I still remember every one of their deaths as if they happened yesterday.

I was about four when Eli and I watched the first dot blink out of existance somewhere in Malaysia, and I remember his face, completely distraught but stuggling to hold things together.

He would watch the tablet almost every night, and had been more glued to it than ever a few months before it happened.

It was as if he knew something was wrong. And from what I later found out, he did.

We had moved the next day, though I'm sure the Mogs still had no idea of our existance, it seemed to help Eli calm down.

The second time was three years later.

And then there were eight dots left on my screen.

When I asked Eli about how there were eight left when two were dead and nine was supposed to be the total, he had shrugged and said he didn't know where the extra dot came from.

I thought it might have been an error of some sort, or another Loric, waiting in hiding just like me.

The latter was obviously more appealing.

But when I brought up the topic of investigating further, I was shot down so vehemently, I have never asked about going to search for the others again.

That is, until recently.

Three's death wasn't preceeded by any crazy internet fiasco, and from what we found out after his dot -which was somewhere in Kenya- blinked out, he was completely off the grid.

We were obviously not expecting it, at any rate and almost didn't realise if not for the fact that Eli had programmed alarms to go off in our house in the event that one of the dots blinked out.

By then, I was done with the running and hiding. I wanted to help and despite Eli's protests about how it would endanger my safety, I couldn't ignore the fact anymore.

People, my people were dying, and I was doing nothing to help them.

I wanted to go about investigating all the remaining dots and to somehow get Eli to agree, but there was one problem.

The dots seemed to have the same idea, or atleast one of them did.

We watched as one of the dots made it's way over to another, which was somewhere in Ohio, and from the news reports we managed to dig up, we got an idea as to who the dot might be.

He went by John Smith, and from the battle we read about when the two dots finally met -which also signified the charm breaking- we guessed, more like knew, he was Number Four.

At about the same time two more dots had come together in Spain, and one had come to the American mainland from the islands off the coast, though only briefly before returning.

The Garde were finding each other, and I wasn't going to be left out of the action.

But despite all my arguements, Eli still refused to let us go after them, saying that after the battle in Paradise, the Mogs knew the Garde had come together and were probably hunting them harder than ever.

And while he waited, I realised it was time I did something.

I started a blog, "Aliens Anonymous", in the hopes that one of the others would find it, and to reach out to humans who might have seen or heard about them.

I chose to go by the name GUARD, a play on Garde in the hopes that if one of the others were to somehow chance upon the blog they might be mildly suspicious and try to contact me.

But I got way more than I had bargained for when within a few months I was contacted by

A user who calls himself JOLLYROGER128, who claimed to have fought with Number Four in Ohio.

After a bit of hacking I found him to be a Mark James, resident of Paradise, Ohio, who went to the same school as the infamous "John Smith".

His story checked out with what I could gather from some rather reliable sources -namely the FBI- and the few government servers I could hack from my laptop without Eli getting a wind of what I was doing, and so I decided I'd help him out.

And that's when Eli found out about the blog.

What's more, he wasn't angry like I expected him to be, but more proud that I was ready to help, and so now, with his help, I've managed to get my hands on more leads than ever, and checked out the other users of the blog, who have all turned out to be random nerds.

Except for one person called FLYBOY, we really can't find much about him, so either he's one of us (which is unlikely from his skepticism) or he's just as good as we are when it comes to hiding his identity.

But all our cyber sleuthing came to an end when we decided to investigate claims of a secret Mog/government base in Dulce, New Mexico, and also look into a "tattooed gang" -who we believed to be Mogs- who were terrorizing the area.

And then things went south. We found out -after a rather unfortunate run in- that the gang in question were indeed Mogs, and were almost hauled off to Dulce when Eli managed to distract them enough so I could get away.

That was the deal we had: my life, for reasons he would never tell me , was worth easily more than his when it came to the survival of our race and planet. And I wasn't allowed to argue.

I waited for a day before heading to the Dulce compound to check for possible escape routes, but found none.

It was around this time when JOLLYROGER128 contacted me saying he was in New Mexico and that he wanted to go in and save Sarah, and I had to convince him it was no use. While I wanted to go and meet him in person, I decided against it when I remembered that Eli would have wanted me to keep to myself for awhile.

And so we waited, and then one day, the Garde arrived. From what I could see on the tablet, one of them seemed to be able to teleport and somehow brought three of the others with them. Two more came in from Chicago soon after, leaving a single dot alone in the islands.

Then, the battle began.

I really couldn't get near enough to help, or even see what was going on, but I could hear the shouts of the Mogs, the blasts from their guns. And then, the sound of the Earth itself shaking, and watched as the buildings collapsed.

I ran into the broken compound just as Eli dragged himself out of a pile of rubble nearby and the two of us managed to get out before the rest of the structure fell apart.

We spent nearly a month recuperating and basically keeping an eye on the Garde, who had set up base in Chicago.

When one day, they split up. Two dots were left behind while four others travelled South, to Florida, where the unthinkable happened.

A few hours after the split, we got news that the John Hancock Center was under attack, and also saw the two remaining Garde split up too.

And in Florida, things were much worse.

Another dot blinked out.

Eli and I were so shocked that we didn't know how to react, but a few hours later, while we had started on our way to Chicago two more blinked back in.

It was so bizzare, we restarted our tablet nearly ten times before we could believe what we were seeing.

What followed was nearly a month of absolute confusion, where we couldn't decide whether to try and help the two Garde we believed to be trapped in a suspected Mog base, or to go and join the others, who had seemingly found a safe house somewhere in New York.

And now we're here again, a few hours after returning from DC and nearly missing the Garde, who are now united once again after what we believe to be a battle at Ashwood Estates, where another one of the dots blinked out of existance.

"Ryan", I hear Eli call from where he stands a few feet away, and I nod my head, signaling that I'm ready to leave.

I've arranged to meet Mark here in Chicago, after footage from the security cameras in the John Hancock Center show that she was indeed with the Garde, and also because I think it's about time I made an ally.

I climb into the back of the car, and fiddle with my Loric Pendant as Eli makes for the airport.

First, I'll find Mark James, and then, the Garde.

I'm sure they could use some more allies, especially in the light of another death at DC, and truth be told...

I've spent long enough in the shadows.

* * *

**Well well... **

**COMING UP NEXT:**** Paradise, and maybe a few moments of fluff along the way... :P**

**Have questions? Comments? Or just wanna yell at me for not updating sooner? **

**LEAVE ME A REVIEW!**

**So thanks a bunch for reading! **

**Until next time!**

**thesecondgarde**


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